• The Journal of Korean Philosophical History
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• no.57
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• pp.31-55
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• 2018

Professor Dowon (道原) Lew, Seung-Kook (柳承國: 1923~2011) was a master of Eastern philosophy in Korea, in the 20th century. 'Confucianism' was the root of his discipline. Nevertheless he studied extensively throughout Eastern philosophy. He was also a pioneer of 'Korean Philosophy', who devoted himself to 'establishing the original form (原型) of Korean thought'. Professor Lew showed a unique view on how Confucian thought was formed. He has done many years of precise comparative analysis of the results of archaeological studies before 1970, particularly the study of bone-and-shell inions, and what was said in previous literature. As a result, he concluded that "we cannot discuss the origins of Confucian thought by separating the relationship with the Dongyi tribe". Confucianism was formed in relation to Dongyi. The purpose of his attention to the Dongyi tribe - RenFang tribe (人方族) was not to examine Dongyi tribe and its culture. His purpose was to examine how Confucian thought was formed and to examine the relevance of Dongyi tribe in this process. This was in conjunction with the task of exploring 'the original form of Korean thought', whether he pretended or not. Professor Lew, Seung-Kook's theory differed not only from the conventional view of the academic world in his time but also from the conventional view up to now. It is a pity that it was not yet discussed it in the academic world. I consider that it is necessary to seriously review Professor Lew and Seung-Kook's theory at this point when China has outlined the Northeast project (東北工程).